Allotments 4 All

I had five plants which were growing really well until about 3 weeks ago. One of the plants just started drooping and then died. Nothing obvious as to why it had died but I removed it from the bed anyway. The other plants lower leaves are now turning yellow, drooping and dropping off. I have very tiny holes in some of the leaves of the plants but again nothing obvious as to cause. We have had a lot of rain lately, could that be the reason? Am I gradually going to lose the remaining 4 plants? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Hi  :)

Did you check the roots for club root?

Duke

Not sure what it looks like as a newbie but the roots of the one that I did pull up just looked like ordinary roots, not very long ones though. Very easy to pull up. Could an insect be the problem, not that I have actually managed to see anything    ???

PS - I grew them from seed, as well as the cabbages which I currently have in as well. Their growth seems to have slowed down as well.

cabbage root fly?
mind you, I think you would've noticed  :)

Could it be wind rock?

AAaarrgh !! Just scrapped round the base of the stems and found some wriggling worms so it looks like I do have this cabbage root fly.
Had a search and it looks like now that I have got it I can't do anything to get rid of it. Should have put those bits of cards around the base but too late for me now......
Blast, thougt I done so well getting this far, growing them from seed etc  :'(

Sounds like root fly fitzie. Very late though, did you plant late?

Not really, been in the ground for a few months now. Grown them from seed and were going really well untill about a week ago. Gutted. Firstattempt...... Next year will have to remember to use those covers around the base of the plants.

Will I lose all of my brussels now or could some survive. Should I just pull them all out and what should I do with the ground when I do?

can't stop grinding my teeth   ;D

The reason I thought your problem was late planting was due to the 'fly' usually attacking young plants.
June is a time when such attacks traditionally occur. You may not have lost all, give a booster feed to give the plants a chance to strengthen their systems. Unfortunately, our Euro bureaucrats have put paid to so many very effective treatments that a collar is maybe your only course for defence. Someone might come along soon to offer advice.

whenyou plant brassicas just pop piece of rhubarb in whole works wonders for root fly.

No need to pay for commercial collars. Old carpet underlay cut into squares with straight cut to centre for stem works really well.

I'll persevere on !! A couple of the plants are starting to bud ( not sure if that is the correct term) with the brussels so they are trying to keep growing. Will feed on as suggested.
Having trawled the web pages someone recommended boiling some rhubarb in water and using the water on the plants.  Won't get rid of the little b*****s but hopefully will slow down the damage.  Have just done that so will see what happens. Guess the same principle is in there in placing the bit of rhubarb in with the plant. Had to pull out one of the plants as the whole plant had wilted and found a couple of large "worms" wriggling. Yuck !!
I've collared my savoys which are in another bed with some cardboard which will do until I get some underlay, hope it's not too late for them.  Fingers crossed................